Midnight Skies - A DabixReader Story

Comfort of a Brother

You kind of expected his radio silence after that, spending the day looking around for new jobs in quieter stores. A couple of book stores seem to be advertising for staff, and you ask for application details hoping that at least one of the stores would call you in for an interview.
Once you get back home, you busy yourself tidying your home.
Your depressive slump had stopped you from cleaning how you usually would, mounds of dirty dishes piled up by the sink in the kitchen, the clothes you'd worn were laying all over your floor and your bedsheets were still all screwed up from the morning.
If any of your family spontaneously decided to visit, there would be immediate concern. You'd always been relatively tidy throughout your life, falling somewhere between the middle of Sota's intense need for cleanliness and order and Kai's innate ability to create mess even by being in a room for mere minutes.

Once you'd cleaned the entirety of your home, including washing your sheets, and replacing them with new ones, you flop onto the couch completely exhausted.
You glance at the clock, a little surprised to see it's night time and you still hadn't eaten, your brain having fixated on cleaning a weeks worth of mess.
You wonder if Dabi was going to come back any time soon. He usually made his visits at night, and you were debating on whether or not you needed to order for him as well.
Picking up your phone, you send him a quick text asking when he would be done.
Only to not receive a response.

You decide to just crack on, making dinner for yourself and not bothering to wait up for him.
It really felt as though you would take two steps forward with him, and then immediately dragged back about ten feet away from him.
Gripping your phone in your hand, you fall asleep alone.

***

The next day you had to return to real life. You handed your notice in, much to Ai's clear upset, and were actually relatively pleased to hear Emi wasn't working.
She did try to persuade you to take your scarf off, saying it wasn't technically part of the uniform, but you insisted you were running a little cold still, and she didn't try again after that, nodding understandably and heading back off to where she had been.
You spent the entire day by yourself happily in silence, occasionally glimpsing at your phone, half expecting something from Dabi eventually.
But nothing, again.

Desperately searching for something to keep you occupied on the third day of Dabi's silence, you decide to walk to Fourfold after work, hoping to catch Sota.
You had been kept busy at work trying to avoid talking to Emi at all costs, but going home and being left to your own devices was a recipe for disaster and you knew it.
You're thankful to see the studio's still open, and even more thankful to see Sota sitting behind the desk a few steps away from the narrow waiting area.
The sound of the door closing seems to draw his attention, his sharp yellow eyes darting up to meet yours.
The change on his usually relatively sullen face was instant, a smile appearing and his eyes glimmering.
"Sis!" He exclaims, standing up and rushing to sweep you into a hug.

The instant he wraps his arms around you, you realise how much you missed him. It felt like forever since you last saw him in person.
You cling back to him tightly until he gently moves away from you.
"You never visit us here anymore. Is everything okay?" He asks, his eyes searching over you, and you instinctively move your scarf up a little higher. You try to keep your mind clear of why you do it, however. Not wanting to have him and Ren pester you for information.
"Yeah, just feeling a bit lonely." You smile. "That house can feel awfully big sometimes."
Sota frowns a little sympathetically.
"Is it just you here?" You ask, looking towards the stairs.
Sota hums, beckoning you to follow him, smoothly grabbing a stool from atop one of the tattoo chairs and placing it on the floor for you to join him behind the desk.